Month: April 2023

Євросоюз

Russia Threatens to Terminate Ukraine Grain Deal over Reports of G7 Export Ban

Russia has threatened to scrap the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which enables the safe export of grain from Ukrainian ports onto the world market. The threat comes as members of the G-7 group of rich nations are reportedly mulling further sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is due to discuss the grain deal with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in New York this week. Export ban The G-7 countries are considering a near total ban on all exports to Russia, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported April 21, citing Japanese government sources. “The G-7 …

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Євросоюз

Ukraine War Prompts Latvia to Re-Think Its Defenses

With Russian troops occupying almost 20% of Ukrainian territory in Europe’s first major conflict since World War Two, Latvia, one of Russia’s Baltic neighbors, is reorganizing its defenses – reenergizing its volunteer force and raising discussions about reinstating its draft system. Marcus Harton narrates this report from Ricardo Marquina in the Latvian capital, Riga. …

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Євросоюз

Climate Activists Glue Themselves to Roads, Stop Berlin Traffic

Environmental activists glued themselves to the asphalt in dozens of street blockades across Berlin on Monday to demand the government do more to tackle climate change, an action condemned by Germany’s finance minister as “physical violence.” “We no longer accept that the government has no plan to stop the destruction of the basis of our existence,” Carla Rochel, a spokeswoman for Last Generation, the group behind the protests, said in a statement. The action was swiftly rejected by Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government, with spokesman Steffen Hebestreit saying: “We do not support such forms of protest.” Around 200 arrests were made …

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Події

Українські військові відбили понад 30 атак сил РФ на Донеччині – Генштаб

Українські військові за добу відбили понад 30 атак російських сил на Бахмутському, Авдіївському і Мар’їнському напрямках, де загарбники зосереджують основні зусилля на веденні наступальних дій, повідомив Генеральний штаб Збройних сил України. «На Бахмутському напрямку ворог продовжує вести наступальні дії. Тривають важкі бої за місто Бахмут. До того ж, протягом доби, противник вів безуспішні наступальні дії у напрямку населених пунктів Новомаркове і Хромове… На Авдіївському напрямку противник вів наступальні дії неподалік населених пунктів Новокалинове, Степове та Первомайське Донецької області, успіху не мав… На Мар’їнському напрямку протягом доби нашими захисниками були відбиті атаки противника в районі населеного пункту Мар’їнка, а також поблизу …

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Євросоюз

Watchdog: World Military Spending Up to an All-time High

Global military spending grew for the eighth consecutive year in 2022 to an all-time high of $2.24 trillion, with a sharp rise in Europe, chiefly due to Russian and Ukrainian expenditure, a Swedish think tank said Monday. Spending globally increased by 3.7% in real terms, but military expenditure in Europe was up 13% — its steepest year-on-year increase in at least 30 years, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, or SIPRI, said in a report. Military aid to Ukraine and concerns about a heightened threat from Russia “strongly influenced many other states’ spending decisions.” The independent Swedish watchdog said that …

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Євросоюз

Air Pollution Kills 1,200 Children a Year, Says EU Agency

Air pollution still causes more than 1,200 premature deaths a year in under 18’s across Europe and increases the risk of chronic disease later in life, the EU environmental agency said Monday.    Despite recent improvements, “the level of key air pollutants in many European countries remain stubbornly above World Health Organization” (WHO) guidelines, particularly in central-eastern Europe and Italy, said the EEA after a study in over 30 countries, including the 27 members of the European Union.    The report did not cover the major industrial nations of Russia, Ukraine and the United Kingdom, suggesting the overall death tolls for the …

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Євросоюз

Highest Military Spending in Europe Since Cold War: Study

Europe’s military spending grew at a record pace in 2022, reaching a level unseen since the Cold War following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, global security researchers said Monday. The rise in Europe helped global military expenditures reach an eighth straight record at $2.24 trillion, or 2.2% of the world’s gross domestic product, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). “It’s driven by the war in Ukraine, (which is) driving European budget spending upwards, but also the unresolved and worsening tensions in East Asia between the US and China,” researcher Nan Tian, one of the study’s co-authors, told AFP. …

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